Page 713 - Week 02 - Thursday, 23 February 2012
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in the Canberra community, the Labor Party, through John Hargreaves, think they are above the law; they think they are above reproach.
Throughout this debate people have said that I have made allegations. No; I did not go around making allegations. Mr Hargreaves is the one who sent a note in black and white. That cannot be argued. For the Labor Party to try and pretend that it was not really what some people said it was is pretty gutless and pretty disappointing.
Mr Hargreaves is not fit to have the respect of members of this place as Assistant Speaker. He has done a disservice to the Assembly, the ministry, the government, the Labor Party and all the members of that party, and the people of Canberra. How can we have confidence in this member if he is sitting in that chair? That is the question we all have to ask.
Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot. Imagine if this was a Liberal Party issue. How all sides of the chamber would be ripping into the opposition then. That is the hypocrisy here. The hypocrisy is about just what lengths the Labor Party will go to to defend this defenceless act. It is absolutely appalling. I do not think we should be endorsing his behaviour by his continued role as an Assistant Speaker of this place.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (10.48): Mr Speaker, it is important to put into context what it is that we are talking about. We can chase rabbits down rabbit holes, but at the end of the day this is about this place. It is about the seat that you occupy and it is about how the public see how this place works. And it is about not just a lapse but a litany of lapses that cover virtually the entire gamut of the community out there. If you are old or a volunteer, if you are young, if you are female, and now if you are homosexual—at some stage Mr Hargreaves has gone out of his way to slur or insult all of those people.
Let us bring it back to what happened. What happened was a bridge too far—the last chance, the second-last chance, the last chance plus one, the last chance plus two. What was the trigger? It was an attack on one of their own. The Labor Party and the Greens are not willing to stand up when he slurs geriatrics, volunteers or the Tuggeranong Community Council, but they are willing to take some action when he breaks the internal rule and attacks a fellow member. That is the motion that is before us today.
We all know that the position of Assistant Speaker is the gift of the chair. But we are asking Mr Hargreaves this. He said in his speech, “I respect being a parliamentarian.” But he has not shown a great deal of respect for the place, because all of those slurs occurred in this place. He says, “I can differentiate between being a politician and a parliamentarian.” Well, it is the same person. Whether you are a politician or parliamentarian, it is the same person. You do not get gravitas because you are sitting up in the chair. You certainly do not get better judgement because you are sitting up in the chair. It does not change.
The only reason that he has lost the position of whip is that he attacked one of his members. It does go to the Chief Minister and the standards that she has set. On a previous occasion I asked her the question: “Is this the last chance?” The answer was
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